SYNOPSIS
DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
DESCRIPTION
DROP TABLE removes tables from the database. Only the table owner, the schema owner, and superuser can drop a table. To empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE(7) or TRUNCATE(7).
DROP TABLE always removes any indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints that exist for the target table. However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key constraint of another table, CASCADE must be specified. (CASCADE will remove a dependent view entirely, but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key constraint, not the other table entirely.)
PARAMETERS
IF EXISTS
- Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.
name
- The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.
CASCADE
- Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views).
RESTRICT
- Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.
EXAMPLES
To destroy two tables, films and distributors:
-
DROP TABLE films, distributors;
COMPATIBILITY
This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the standard only allows one table to be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a Postgre-XC extension inherited from PosrgreSQL.